


Warning Bells

by DarthAbby



Series: The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Em and Abbypool [6]
Category: Deadpool - All Media Types, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Abandonment (sort of), Gen, Past Child Abuse, Weapon X Project, implied future ass-kicking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 03:15:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19098619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarthAbby/pseuds/DarthAbby
Summary: Jack finally reappears in Abby's life.This is not necessarily a good thing.





	Warning Bells

**Author's Note:**

> Special thank you to Em (Ava_Dakedavra) for assisting with Em's PoV in the last section! You rock!!!!!

Abby keeps track of things almost obsessively. Dates in particular. She needs those concrete reminders some days, needs to know that she hasn't lost more years overnight, that she hasn't forgotten again.

So she knows that it has been 689 days since she last heard from Weasel, a cryptic message telling her to stay away from their home base in Chicago until he says it's safe once more. And she also knows that it's been 242 days since befriending Em, who then turned out to be Spider-Woman. Em spent more time at Abby's apartment than her dorm anymore, and she couldn't exactly complain - it was nice having another person around to keep the nightmares and bad thoughts at bay.

In short, it was actually Jack's fault almost getting his ass beat by a half-asleep Em because he didn't  _ tell _ Abby that he was coming by, and she certainly wasn’t expecting him to show up out of nowhere, much less to break in through her window.

"Em! Em, it's okay!" Abby said, tugging ineffectively at her friend's arm, which was currently wrapped around Jack's throat in a chokehold. "I know him, he's cool!"

Em blinked at her before dropping him onto the ground with a thud. "I am  _ so _ not awake enough for this," she grumbled. "Is there coffee left?"

"Yeah, should be."

She didn't respond, marching into the kitchen to pour herself a mug.

Abby turned back to Jack, who was gasping on the floor. "Long time no see."

_ "Why _ do you have a  _ ninja _ sleeping on your couch?!"

"She's my friend," she said flatly. "Why didn't  _ you _ call ahead?"

"Because I'm a paranoid bastard who's been on the run for two years while  _ you've _ been cozying up to your girlfriend who tried to  _ kill me." _

"She doesn't kill people," Abby said, as Em called from the kitchen, "I don't kill people!"

"Whatever," Jack groaned, getting to his feet. "Are there more ninjas in the bathroom or can I go take a damn leak?"

Abby rolled her eyes and just pointed at the right door, letting him shuffle off, still complaining.

She made her way to the kitchen, where she had been drinking her own coffee and perusing Twitter before Jack had broken in and woken Em.

Em now had her own coffee and was glaring at the window he had entered through. "Who the fuck is that?"

"That's… Weasel. Or Jack. He's an… old friend. I used to crash with him a lot back in the day."

"And why is he here?" she demanded.

"I… don't know," Abby admitted. "I haven't heard from him in almost two years. I don't think he'd be here if it wasn't important, though."

Em considered this for a moment before asking her final question. "Are there any muffins left?"

"Yeah, in the cupboard with the bread."

She nodded, pleased with that at least, and went looking for one.

* * *

Jack got juice instead of coffee, as punishment for scaring Em, and had to make do with toast since she took the last two muffins just to spite him.

“So, you here for any particular reason?” Abby asked as he poured himself a second glass of juice.

“What, I can’t just drop in to check up on my last remaining family member, who has an unfortunate habit of dying?”

_ “No,” _ Abby snapped.

“Family?” Em asked at the same time. “You have a  _ family?” _

_ “No,” _ Abby repeated, more distressed this time.

Jack rolled his eyes. “You  _ know _ I have sensitive information and you haven’t asked her to leave, but you don’t want her to know you’re a human with a family?”

“I’m a mutant, technically -”

_ “Really _ not my point.”

“Who  _ are _ you?” Em asked, giving Jack a confused look.

“I’m her cousin,” he said promptly. “And former contact man - hey, by the way, I heard you aren’t taking hits anymore? What’s up with that?”

“Wait, were  _ you _ the one that started her as a mercenary?”

“Killing people is bad -?”

“I definitely was not, she did that on her own -”

_ “Yes, _ killing people is bad, Abby, we’ve been over this -”

“Since when do you care about  _ morals _ -”

“What the fuck do you mean by that -”

“She’s  _ Deadpool, _ that’s what she  _ does,  _ kill people -”

“Not anymore she fucking doesn’t!”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here -”

“Deadpool is a  _ hero _ now, no thanks to you I guess -”

“I basically steered her straight into  _ you, _ so you should be thanking me, not -”

_ “Thank you -!?” _

“ENOUGH!” Abby shouted, swinging her fist backwards to hit the fridge door with a loud  _ thunk. _

Em and Jack both jumped a little and turned to look at her in surprise.

“Jack, I’m a grown ass person who can make my own decisions, something you never had an issue with before, so suck it up. Em, I know he’s an asshole, but  _ yes, _ he is in fact the only family I have, and he did help me a lot in the past, and we have already discussed my past as a mercenary  _ more _ than enough.”

Jack sighed and looked away - not an apology, but he never apologized, so it was at least a sign that he was willing to drop the issue. Em crossed her arms and pursed her lips, but nodded. She wasn’t going to apologize first, which was fair enough.

“So, Jack,  _ why _ are you here, now? What happened?”

He turned back to Abby, giving her the most serious look she could remember seeing on his face. “Have you heard of the Weapon X Program?”

* * *

The brief, sketchy overview that Jack had given them was enough to make Abby feel sick. An organization dedicated to the idea of super soldiers, who had been tracking her for several years now.

They’d killed the nice doctor and his assistant that had helped her when she had first woken up with no memory of the last three years, just because the two had seen her come back to life.

They were also the ones she had been hearing whispers of when she was still writing her name in blood across the mercenary scene - the people who were looking for her, who were killing for information and to keep their secrets, who were notable only by their complete absence.

Weapon X was what had finally shown up a little too close to home two years past, who had spooked Jack enough that he had vanished like the rodents he styled himself after. 

The look Jack gave Abby as he wrapped up said volumes. There was more information he held, but it was something he wasn’t going to share in front of anyone else, even someone who had her stamp of approval.

So, she pushed her chair back roughly from the table and announced that she was going to the 7-Eleven on the corner.

It’s silly, but it works. Jack met her in the parking lot a few minutes later.

“What’d you tell Em?”

“Nothing, she took off. Something about needing to clear her head?” he shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. This place secure?”

She nodded curtly. The entire building and surrounding area are clear - even if she hadn’t already been wracked by paranoia after waking up with three years of her life missing, the merc business didn’t suit itself to people who weren’t cautious. She does weekly sweeps, nightly if she’s feeling particularly anxious.

Her last sweep was only a few hours before. It was definitely clear.

“Look, I didn’t want to say anything in front of your friend, but…” he hesitated, and that made her stomach churn even more. Jack was always forthright, never beating around the bush. If he was hesitating, it must be something  _ really _ awful.

“Just tell me,” she said, crossing her arms to hide her twitching fingers.

“The Weapon X Program, it’s not really about  _ recruiting _ potential super soldiers,” he admitted, shifting uncomfortably. “It’s more about  _ making _ them. I - well, I have evidence that they’re the ones who had you during…  _ those _ years.”

She had half-expected it, but that didn’t soften the impact at all. Her nails bit into the skin on her arms, her shoulders shook, and she clenched her jaw so hard that she heard her molars creaking in protest.

“Abby? Are you okay?”

“Show me.”

“What?”

“Show me the evidence.”

“I don’t think -”

_ “Show me.” _

* * *

The apartment was empty when Em returned a few hours later, climbing through the fire escape and pulling off her mask to wander through the darkened apartment, flicking on lights as she went before noticing that a note was hung up on the fridge, under the magnet that looked like her mask.

Forgoing her quest for caffeine, Em lifted the paper from the magnet to read it properly.

_ Em - going out of town for a bit. Not sure for how long. Sorry for the short notice. Need to help Jack dig up some more shit on those assholes. Feel free to stay here, rent is paid through the next 3 months. Sorry again. - Abby <3 _

She found herself frozen, staring at the note in her hand. She re-read it a few more times, waiting for the words to stick, but none of it seemed to make any sense. Abby wasn’t the type of person - the type of  _ friend _ \- to disappear with only a note. If Abby had needed to skip town, Em would’ve been the first to know. The fact that she hadn’t made a point to say goodbye not only worried her, but it downright  _ hurt.  _ She’d thought that they were the type of friends to say goodbye, to hug and promise to see each other soon.

Em crumbled up the note, tossing it into the trashcan and huffing as she stared around the kitchen. Maybe there were more clues, more notes explaining everything in further detail. She checked around the kitchen, looking through the cookie jar, the hidden corners of the cabinets, even opening the carton of eggs and debating if a note were hidden in the ivory confines of a shell. She decided that that might’ve been a bit too much, and retreated to the living room with a resigned sigh.

Facing the facts, Em came to the conclusion that Abby had just decided to leave town and simply not tell her about it. The only friend that she’d bothered to make had decided to leave and not say goodbye, and Em was alone once again. Ouch.

She flopped into the couch, feeling the need for a decent cry to clear her head, when something crinkled and poked into her hip. She sat up, grabbing the paper from between the couch cushions, and carefully turned it over.

It was a full sheet this time, and looked very official, torn off of a larger packet. Stuck to the top was a post-it with unfamiliar handwriting.

_ just thought someone else should know - weasel _

She peeled off the note and took in the full sheet.

**WEAPON X PROGRAM APPLICANT**

**Full Name: [REDACTED]**

**DOB:** _ 12-01-1999 _

**Phone:** _ N/A _

**Address:** _ N/A _

**Emergency Contact:** _ N/A _

**Abilities:** _ accelerated healing _

**The undersigned hereby agrees to any and all treatments put forth by the Weapon X Program and all affiliates, including vaccinations, physical fitness regimes, interrupted sleep schedules, group work, mentally and physically stressful simulations, advanced training in multiple areas, and possibly life-threatening training sessions. The undersigned also agrees to complete all of these tasks to the best of their abilities, to never pursue legal action against the Weapon X Program and affiliates, and to work for the Weapon X Program and affiliates for a predetermined length of time following treatment.**

This was followed by a swirly signature and a date.  _ 02-22-13 _ .

Em sat on the couch, staring off into nothing as everything seemed to click. Doing some quick mental math, Abby had been 14 when she signed the contract binding her to Weapon X and giving her no legal wiggle room. Fourteen years old and dealing with ‘mentally and physically stressful simulations,’ a baby teenager being put through ‘physical fitness regimes’ and ‘advanced training,’ a fucking  _ child _ and undergoing ‘life-threatening training sessions.’

Without making the conscious decision, Em had her mask on and had made it back onto the fire escape before she realized that there was  _ nothing _ she could do. She didn’t know where Abby had taken off to, didn’t know exactly who was after her or what they wanted from her. Didn’t know how long it would take, or how track her down, because if Deadpool didn’t want to be found then she wouldn’t be found. All Em knew was that Weapon X was involved and after her friend, probably had been for a while, and that was that.

Em sat down on the metal beneath her, tugging the mask back off and looking out over the city. 

She’d give her three months before Spider-Woman got involved, because she only had one friend and she couldn’t lose her too, damn it.

Em took a deep breath, looking up at the stars making a feeble attempt to shine, and just hoped that Abby would be okay.


End file.
